MANAGING HEALTH AND SAFETY.docx

Work place safety

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MANAGING HEALTH AND SAFETY
INTRODUCTION
Human resources professionals play an important role in ensuring employee health and safety, as
they know the workplace, the employees and their job demands. While human resources
professionals are not expected to know the technical aspects of workplace health and
safety, they should know when and how to use existing resources to respond to employee
concerns. In many organizations, health and safety responsibilities are within the human resources
department. In order to meet these responsibilities, human resources
professionals must:
• Understand the health and safety responsibilities of employers, managers, supervisors and
employees within the organization;

• Implement personnel management policies to ensure that everyone in the workplace is
aware ofhis/her responsibilities;

• Establish effective ways of meeting health and safety responsibilities;

• Ensure that employees fulfill their health and safety responsibilities as outlined in the
organizational policies and programs.

Why manage health and safety?
• Accidents and ill health are costly to workers and their families. They can also hurt
companies because, in addition to the costs of personal injuries, they may incur far
greater costs from damage to property or equipment, and lost production.
• With very few exceptions, employers have to have liability insurance cover for injuries
and ill health to their employees. They will also have insurance for accidents involving
vehicles and possibly third party and buildings insurance.
However, insurance policies only cover a small proportion of the costs of accidents. Costs not
covered by insurance can include:
■ Sick pay;
■ Damage or loss of product and raw materials;
■ Repairs to plant and equipment;
■ overtime working and temporary labor;
■ Production delays;

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■ Investigation time;
■ Fines.
So in some cases, you could think of accident costs like an iceberg, with the majority of the
losses uninsured and hidden below the water line. Directors and managers can be held
personally responsible for failures to control health and safety. Can you afford such failures?
Do you really manage health and safety?
• It lists five steps to success. Following them will help you to keep your staff at work and
reduce the costs of injuries, illness, property and equipment damage. You will have fewer
stoppages, higher output, and better quality. By complying with the law and avoiding
fines you will avoid damaging publicity. You cannot be a 'quality' organization unless
you apply sound management principles to health and safety.
• Inspectors visiting your workplace will want to know how you manage health and safety.
If an accident occurs, you, your systems, procedures, and employees will come under
scrutiny.

FIVE STEPS TO SUCCESS MANAGING HEALTH AND SAFETY
These indicators will show you where you need to improve
Step 1: Set your policy
• The same sorts of event that cause injuries and illness can also lead to property damage
and interrupt production so you must aim to control all accidental loss. Identifying
hazards and assessing risks,* deciding what precautions are needed, putting them in place
and checking they are used, protects people, improves quality, and safeguards plant and
production.
• Your health and safety policy should influence all your
• activities, including the selection of people, equipment and materials, the way work is
done and how you design and provide goods and services.
• A written statement of your policy and the organization and arrangements for
implementing and monitoring it shows your staff, and anyone else, that hazards have
been identified and risks assessed, eliminated or controlled.

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• A hazard is something with potential to cause harm. The harm will vary in severity some
hazards may cause death, some serious illness or disability, others only cuts and bruises.
Risk is the combination of the severity of harm with the likelihood of it happening.

Step 2: Organize your staff
• To make your health and safety policy effective you need to get your staff involved and
committed. This is often referred to as a 'positive health and safety culture'.
The four 'Cs' of positive health and safety culture
Competence
 Assess the skills needed to carry out all tasks safely.
 Provide the means to ensure that all employees, including your managers, supervisors and
temporary staff, are adequately instructed and trained.
 Ensure that people doing especially dangerous work have the necessary training,
experience and other qualities to carry out the work safely.
 Arrange for access to sound advice and help.
 Carry out restructuring or re organization to ensure the competence of those taking on
new health and safety responsibilities
Control
 Lead by example: demonstrate your commitment and provide clear direction let
everyone know health and safety is important.
 Identify people responsible for particular health and safety jobs especially where special
expertise is called for, eg doing risk assessments, driving forklift trucks.
 Ensure that managers, supervisors and team leaders understand their responsibilities and
have the time and resources to carry them out.
 Ensure everyone knows what they must do and how they will be held accountable set
objectives.
Cooperation
 Chair your health and safety committee if you have one. Consult your staff and their
representatives.
 Involve staff in planning and reviewing performance, writing procedures and solving
problems.
 Coordinate and cooperate with those contractors who work on your premises.

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Communication
 Provide information about hazards, risks and preventive measures to employees and
contractors working on your premises.
 Discuss health and safety regularly.
 Be 'visible' on health and safety.
Planning is the key to ensuring that your health and safety efforts really work. Planning for
health and safety involves setting objectives, identifying hazards, assessing risks, implementing
standards of performance and developing a positive culture. It is often useful to record your plans
in writing. Your planning should provide for:
 identifying hazards and assessing risks, and deciding how they can be eliminated or
controlled;
 complying with the health and safety laws that apply to your business;
 agreeing health and safety targets with managers and supervisors;

Step 3: Plan and set standards
• a purchasing and supply policy which takes health and safety into account;
• design of tasks, processes, equipment, products and services, safe systems of work;
• procedures to deal with serious and imminent danger;
• cooperation with neighbours, and/or subcontractors;
• setting standards against which performance can be measured.
Step 4: Measure your performance
Just like finance, production or sales, you need to measure your health and safety performance to
find out if you are being successful. You need to know:
■ Where you are;
■ Where you want to be;
■ What is the difference and why.
• Active monitoring, before things go wrong, involves regular inspection and checking to
ensure that your standards are being implemented and management controls are working.
Reactive monitoring, after things go wrong, involves learning from your mistakes,
whether they have resulted in injuries and illness, property damage or near misses.

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Step 5: Learn from experience audit and review
Monitoring provides the information to let you review activities and decide how to improve
performance. Audits, by your own staff or outsiders, complement monitoring activities by
looking to see if your policy, organization and systems are actually achieving the right results.
They tell you about the reliability and effectiveness of your systems. Learn from your
experiences. Combine the results from measuring performance with information from audits to
improve your approach to health and safety management.
Why is health and safety training important?
Preventing accidents and ill health caused by work is a key priority for everyone at work. As the
owner or manager of a business you know that competent employees are valuable.
• ensure your employees are not injured or made ill by the work they do;
• develop a positive health and safety culture, where safe and healthy working becomes
second nature to everyone;
• find out how you could manage health and safety better;
• meet your legal duty to protect the health and safety of your employees. Effective training:
• will contribute towards making your employees competent in health and safety;
• can help your business avoid the distress that accidents and ill health cause;
• can help you avoid the financial costs of accidents and occupational ill health. Don’t forget
that your insurance doesn’t cover all these costs. Damaged products, lost production and
demotivated staff can all result.
What is training?
• Training means helping people to learn how to do something, telling people what they
should or should not do, or simply giving them information. Training isn’t just about
formal ‘classroom’ courses.
Who needs health and safety training?
• Your managers and supervisors do! If you employ managers or supervisors they will
certainly need some training. They need to know what you expect from them in terms of
health and safety, and how you expect them to deliver. They need to understand your health
and safety policy, where they fit in, and how you want health and safety managed. They may
also need training in the specific hazards of your processes and how you expect the risks to
be controlled.
• Your employees do! Everyone who works for you, including self-employed people, needs to
know how to work safely and without risks to health. Like your supervisors, they need to
know about your health and safety policy, your arrangements for implementing it, and the

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part they play. They also need to know how they can raise any health and safety concerns
with you.
What to consider while training
• take into account the capabilities, training, knowledge and experience of workers;
• ensure that the demands of the job do not exceed their ability to carry out their work without
risk to themselves and others. Some employees may have particular training needs,

for example:
• New recruits need basic induction training into how to work safely, including arrangements
for first aid, fire and evacuation;
• People changing jobs or taking on extra responsibilities need to know about any new health
and safety implications;
• Young employees are particularly vulnerable to accidents and you need to pay particular
attention to their needs, so their training should be a priority. It is also important that new,
inexperienced or young employees are adequately supervised;
• Some people’s skills may need updating by refresher training.

STEP 1 Decide what training your organization needs
• Identify the skills and knowledge needed for people to do their job in a safe and healthy way.
Compare these against people’s current skills and knowledge and identify the gaps.
• Review your experience of injuries, near misses or cases of ill health.
• Look at your risk assessments to see where information and/or training have been identified
as factors in controlling risks.
• Consult employees or their representatives for their views.
• Consider awareness training needs for directors, managers and supervisors, including: how
you manage health and safety; who is responsible for what; the cost to the business if things
go wrong; how to identify hazards and evaluate risks; and the hazards encountered and
measures for controlling them.

STEP 2 Decide your training priorities
- Does the law require you to carry out specific training (eg first aid training)? See ‘The
Law’ for more details.
- Top priorities would include those where lack of information and/or training might result
in serious harm, and those which benefit the largest numbers of staff.
- Consult employees or their representatives for their views.
- Training for new recruits and for people changing jobs or taking on new responsibilities
should always be a priority.

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STEP 3 Choose your training methods and resources
Don’t forget that though there are many external trainers who can help you, much effective
training can be done ‘in house’.
Choose your methods, for example: giving information or instruction; coaching or on thejob
training; training in the ‘classroom’; open and distance learning; in groups or individually; and
computer based or interactive learning.
Consider who can help you, by providing information, materials, training courses

STEP 4 Deliver the training
Ensure the information is easy to understand and try to use a variety of training methods to
deliver your message.
Ensure the trainer has enough time to prepare themselves, their resources and the venue –
preparation is particularly important for people who are not experienced trainers.

STEP 5 Check that the training has worked
- Do your employees understand what you require of them?
- Do they now have the knowledge and skills needed to work safely and without risk to
health?
- Are they actually working as they have been trained?
- Has there been any improvement in your organization’s health and safety performance?
- What feedback are you getting from line managers and the people who have been
trained?
- Is further information and/or training needed?
- Was the most suitable training method used?
- What improvements can be made?
- Has there been a change in behavior and practice?
- It is important to keep records of training, even in-house training.
- You should monitor training records so that refresher training can be given when needed.

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IMPORTANCE OF EMPLOYEES WELFARE
1. To give expression to philanthropic and paternalistic feelings
2. To win over employee’s loyalty and increase their morale
3. To combat trade unionism and socialist ideas
4. To build up stable labor force, to reduce labor turnover and absenteeism
5. To develop efficiency and productivity among workers
6. To save oneself from heavy taxes on surplus profits
7. To earn goodwill and enhance public image
8. To reduce the threat of further government intervention
9. To make recruitment more effective (because these benefits add to job appeal)

PRINCIPLES OF EMPLOYEE WELFARE SERVICE
Following are generally given as the principles to be followed in setting up an employee welfare
service. The service should satisfy real needs of the workers. This means that the manager must
first determine what the employee’s real needs are with the active participation of workers.
The service should such as can be handled by cafeteria approach. Due to the difference in Sex,
age, marital status, number of children, type of job and the income level of employees there are
large differences in their choice of a particular benefit. This is known as the cafeteria
approach. Such an approach individualizes the benefit system though it may be difficult to
operate and administer.
TYPES OF EMPLOYEE WELFARE SERVICES
The most important is the payment of wages and organization of payroll, including any pension
scheme. Other responsibilities related to “good employer” objectives such as employee
involvement and motivation. These require careful consideration and in some cases written
policies,

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Welfare facilities include toilets, washing facilities, rest and changing facilities, personal security
arrangements (e.g. lockers) and refreshment. There must be a sufficient number of toilets and
washing facilities so that people should not have to queue for long periods to use them. These
should be separate for male and female, unless you have a very small number of staff. The
facilities must be clean, and provided with toilet paper, soap, drying facilities, and hot and cold
running water. They must be well lit, and ventilated to the external air.
Safety Services
Prevention of accidents is an important part of employees welfare. The costs of accidents are
enormous in suffering to the injured, in reduction or loss of earnings, in disabilities and
incapacities which afflict those involved and in compensation, insurance and legal costs, in lost
time, filling in reports and attending to enquiries, and in spoilage of materials, equipment and
tools to management. The organization should strive to promote the welfare of the people by
securing and protecting as effectively as possible.
Work Environment
It is generally assumed or implied a part of the contract of employment that an employer will
provide a safe working environment, and the health and safety legislation seeks to ensure that
this is the case. Physical safety is only one aspect of the working environment, and consideration
should be given to other aspects such as the encouragement of team spirit, mutual respect and
open lines of communication. A particularly difficult area that may require special attention is
the development of positive relationships between volunteers, permanent employees and casual
employees. The provision of counseling support may be helpful in some situations. Stress caused
by the working circumstances is becoming a common issue, and the welfare of the employee
should include prevention or reduction of potential stress.
Personnel Development
A good employer must fulfill a number of roles in respect of employees, obligations that are. An
important one is the motivation of all staff, whatever their basis of employment, to carry out
their responsibilities to a high standard and to stay with the organization. A Personnel

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Development Policy is helpful as it sets out what incentives, rewards and support the
organization can offer. While pay is one of these, others include recognition and promotion,
increased responsibility and involvement, and training opportunities.
Appraisal Systems
Appraisals provide an opportunity to give feedback to employees on their performance and
consider how the organization can better support and motivate the employee to develop within
the organization and this makes an important part of employee’s welfare.
Training
Training needs depend on the nature of the organization and what it does, and it is worth taking
the time to think through a training plan which links training to both the needs of the individual
and the needs of the organizations. Such a plan should set out why training is necessary, what
types are priorities and who will benefit (in terms of content), how individual training needs will
be determined, and who will have access to training opportunities (ensuring that equal
opportunities issues are addressed).
Health of Employees
Cleanliness - Every organization should be kept clean by daily sweeping or washing the floors and
work rooms and by using disinfectant where necessary.
Disposal of wastes and effluents - Effective arrangements should be made for the disposal of
wastes and for making them innocuous.
Ventilation and temperature - Effective arrangements should be made for ventilation and
temperature so as to provide comfort to the workers and prevent injury to their health.
Dust and fume. - Effective measures should be taken to prevent the inhalation and
accumulation of dust and fumes or other impurities at the work place.
Overcrowding - In every work room there should be enough space for employees.

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Lighting - standards of sufficient and suitable lighting should be provided.
Drinking Water - There should be effective arrangement for wholesome drinking water for
workers at convenient points.
Latrines and urinals - There should be sufficient number of latrines and urinals, clean, well-
ventilated, conveniently situated and built according to prescribed standards separately for male
and female workers.
Spittoons - There should be sufficient number of spittoons placed at convenient places in the
factory.
Hoists and lifts - These should be made of good material and strength, thoroughly examined at
least once in every six months and suitably protected to prevent any person or thing from being
trapped.
It is important to have separate and adequately screened washing facilities for the use of male
and female employees.
Suitable places should be provided for clothing not worn during working hours and for the dying
of wet clothing.
There should be suitable arrangement for all workers to sit for taking rest if they are obliged to
work in a standing position.
There should be provided the required number of first-aid boxes or cupboard (at the rate of one
for every 150 workers) equipped with the prescribed contents readily available during the
working hours of the organization.
In large organizations a canteen should be provided and maintained by the occupier for the use
by the employees.
There should be provided sufficiently lighted and ventilated lunch room if the number of
employees ordinarily employed is more than 150.

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Welfare Funds
In order to provide welfare facilities to the workers, the welfare funds have been established to
supplement the efforts of the employers. The welfare measures financed out of the funds relate
to development of medical facilities, housing, supply of drinking water, support for education of
dependents and recreation.
Voluntary Benefits - Benefits are also given voluntarily to workers by some progressive
employers. These include loans for purchasing houses and for educating children, leave travel
concession, fair price shops for essential commodities and loans to buy personal conveyance.

Social Securities may be of two types
Social assistance under which the government finances the entire cost of the facilities and
benefits provided.
Social insurance, under the government organizes the facilities financed by contributions from
the workers and employers, with or without a subsidy from the government. At present both
types of social security schemes are in vogue in our country. The social insurance method, which
has gained much wider acceptance than the social assistance method, consists of the following
enactments.
Medical Benefit - An insured person or (where medical benefit bas been extended to his family)
a member of his family who requires medical treatment is entitled to receive medical benefit free
of charge.
Sickness Benefit - An insured person, when he is sick, is also entitled to get sickness benefit at
the standard benefit rate corresponding to his average daily wage. An insured woman is entitled
to receive maternity benefit for all days on which she does not work.

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Dependant’s Benefit. If an insured person meets with an accident in the course of his
employment and dies as a result thereof, his dependants, i.e. his widow, legitimate or adopted is
taken care of.


CONCLUSION
The following are the basic welfare for employees for an organization which wants to
motivate its works to improve on productivity of the organization.
1. You must provide enough clean, working toilets.
2. Hot and cold water, soap and towels or a hand dryer must be available. .
3. You must provide means of bottled drinking water.
4. Working areas should be cleaned regularly.
5. Waste should be removed and safely stored.
6. The temperature should be comfortable. Recommended levels are at least 16 ºC where
people are sedentary and at least 13 ºC where people are active. If the temperature must be
lower, employees should not be exposed for long and they should be given suitable
clothing.
7. Adequate lighting is a requirement for both employee welfare and health and safety.
8. The workplace should provide enough space and ventilation.
9. If your windows do not provide sufficient ventilation, a mechanical ventilation system may
be required.
10. You must provide employees with an appropriate rest area.
11. Employees who wear special clothing usually need a changing area. Even in a normal
office, there must be a place to hang and dry wet clothing.
12. If the workplace is not suitable for eating in, provide an eating area.
13. Implement a smoking policy. Smoking is banned in all commercial premises and enclosed
public places.
14. Pregnant women and new mothers must be given access to rest facilities.

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Public Relations
PR or public relations is the practice of protecting as well as enhancing the reputation of any
particular organization/firm or for that matter any individual. In today’s world of fierce
competition, where every organization strives hard to work toward its brand image, public relations
has become the need of the hour. It is essential for every organization to communicate well with
its public/target audience. The correct flow of information is essential. Here comes the importance
of public relations.
Public relations strengthens the relationship between the organization and its target audience,
employees, stakeholders, investors etc.

Public Relation Activities
Here are some ways of enhancing an organization’s brand image:
1. Addressing the media
2. Speaking at various press conferences, seminars.
3. Advertisements to correctly position the brand, Pamphlets, Brochures, magazines notices,
newsletters and so on.
4. Corporate Social responsibility(CSR Activities)
5. Introducing various loyalty schemes for customers like membership cards, premium clubs
so as to retain the customers.
6. Various events, shows and activities.
Spin
Public relation experts sometimes turn a bad situation into the organization’s favour. Such a
situation is called as spin. Spin refers to a situation where public relation experts tactfully utilize
an unfavorable situation for company’s benefits and publicity.

Negative PR
In cases of negative PR, public relation experts instead of focusing on enhancing their
organization’s image, concentrate on tarnishing the reputation of business rivals. Negative PR also
called as dirty tricks involves extensive research and information gathering.

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Effective Public Relations
Public Relations is said to be effective under all the below circumstances:
 Awareness: To create a positive image of an organization, the message must reach the
public. Information must reach in its desired form for effective public relation.
 Acceptance: The audience must understand what the message intends to communicate.
They ought to agree with the message.
 Action: The audience ought to give feedback to the organization accordingly.

Communication and Public Relations
Public relations refers to the practice of enhancing an organization’s reputation in the eyes of
public, stakeholders, employees, investors and all others associated with it. Public relations experts
are specially hired by organizations who work hard towards maintaining brand image of
organization.
Communication plays an essential role in effective public relations. Two way communication
between both the parties is essential and information must flow in its desired form between the
organization and public. The receiver must understand what the sender intends to communicate
for an effective public relation. The receivers (public, target audience, stakeholders, employees,
investors) must clearly understand the sender’s message. (Organization in this case).

The message/information needs to create an impact in the minds of customers for an effective
brand positioning. Communication needs to have a strong influence on the target audience for
them to remain loyal towards the organization.

In public relations, the receivers play a crucial role than the sender. The sender (organization) must
ensure that the receivers interpret the information correctly and also give necessary feedbacks and
reviews. It is really essential for the sender to understand its target audience. Public relations
experts must do extensive research and gather as much information as they can before planning
any public relation activity. Public relation activities would go unnoticed if receivers to not
understand it well. Public relation activities must be designed keeping in mind the benefits of the
target audience for a better brand positioning.

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Importance of Public Relations Experts
Public relations refers to the practice of enhancing an organization’s reputation and image in the
minds of target audience through ethical means. Public Relations experts strive hard to maintain a
cordial relation between the organization (key members) and stakeholders, investors, employees,
partners and so on. It is the public relations manager’s key responsibility to ensure that free flow
of information takes place between both the parties(organization and its target audience).

Importance of Public Relations
In the current scenario of cut throat competition, every organization struggles to stay a step ahead
of its competitors. It is essential for every organization to communicate well with its stake holders,
partners and each and every individual associated with it.

Here comes the importance of public relations experts:
Public relations experts are hired to present one’s organization in the best light. Public
Relations experts create a positive image of a particular brand in the minds of target customers
through regular interaction, press release, newsletters, interviews, events, functions, hiring a
celebrity as a brand ambassador or even through charitable functions.

Public Relations is essential for effective brand positioning. In a layman’s language, public
relations experts are hired to make an organization and its products/brands popular among the
masses. (Target audiences)

Public relations experts strive hard to reach to the maximum people (potential customers)
and eventually gain maximum exposure for their organization/brand. More and more people
relate to their brand and automatically revenue of the organization goes up.

In today’s world, it is really essential for every organization to understand the needs and
expectations of its target audiences. Public relations experts ensure free flow of information
between the organization and its target audiences, necessary for the survival of every business.
Correct information must reach the customers for them to be loyal towards your brand. (Products
and services).Public relations experts help an organization stand apart from the crowd.

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Public relations department gives the customers and infact the whole world a better understanding
of how their organization functions, policies, products, services and so on.

Public relations experts focus not only on information flow from organization to its public
but also vice a versa. Proper feedback is being taken from potential customers as to how they feel
about the organization and its products. These reviews and feedbacks (positive or negative) help
an organization to grow to its full potential. Positive feedback definitely calls for a celebration but
negative reviews are also taken seriously and necessary changes are incorporated in the system to
meet the expectations of the consumers.

The role of public relations expert becomes critical under any kind of crisis or unfavourable
circumstance. It is the role of the public relations manager to save the reputation of his/her
organization. He needs to be on his toes to face questions from the media/public and handle all the
criticism with a smile. It is the public relations manager’s role to take immediate charge of any
adverse situation and turn negative situations also into the company’s favour.

Public relations experts in true sense are the face of every organization who work hard towards
saving and maintaining an organization’s reputation ad image. It is a new and highly successful
way of staying connected with the target audiences for a better brand image.

Public Relation Skills
Public Relations experts ought to possess the following skills for a highly successful and
rewarding career.
1. Excellent Writing Skills
A Public Relations expert needs to write well. He ought to be creative and should master
the art of putting thoughts into meaningful words. Your words need to create the desired
impact and influence the customers. Make sure whatever you write is relevant and puts
your organization in the best light.

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2. Creative
A public relations expert needs to be extremely creative and should be able to think out of
the box. He/She should be able to come out with innovative ideas to promote the
organization and its products among the target audience. In today’s world of fierce
competition, it is really essential for marketers and public relations experts to experiment
with new ideas /concepts and develop something which would benefit the end-users.
3. Good Communication Skills
Public Relations experts must master the art of effective communication skills. It is really
essential to speak well. Don’t just speak for the sake of it. Public relations experts must
ensure the recipients have understood what they intend to communicate. Two way
communication is the essence of effective public relations. Whatever you communicate
ought to make sense and well understood by target customers.

4. Focused
Stay focussed and take care of even the minutest details. Do not ignore even the slightest
doubt. Even a single detail left unattended can become a major cause of concern in the
future. Crosscheck every single detail and observation before jumping to the final
conclusion.
5. Study a lot
Public relations experts ought to study a lot and do extensive research before designing
public relations activities.
6. Proactive
A public relation professional ought to be proactive and on his toes always. He needs to
have a strong grasping power with an eagerness to learn. Lazy individuals generally do not
make good public relations professionals.
7. Competitors research
Keep your eyes and ears open. Find out what your competitors are upto.It is really
important to keep a close watch on competitor’s activities and initiatives. You may draw
inspiration from them but following them blindly would do no benefit and in turn tarnish
your organization’s image.

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8. Be Friendly
A Public relations expert needs to have strong networking skills. As a Public relations
representative one needs to have a strong association with people from media industry(TV,
Radio, Print - Newspapers/Magazines), employees, investors, shareholders, partners etc.
Sometimes it really becomes essential to flash your smile and get your work done. Never
ever spoil your relationship with anyone. Don’t fight with anyone. If you do not like
someone, the best way is to ignore. You never know when you might need the other person.
9. Loyal towards your Job
Be loyal towards your job. Remember a public relations job is not only a nine to six job.
You need to stay back sometimes even at odd hours and you can’t just complain. At times
you need to meet lots of people in a single day but one can’t crib. One needs to be a little
flexible. Make that little extra effort to satisfy your clients.
10. Pleasing Personality
Public Relations Professionals need to have a pleasing personality. Make sure you dress
smartly. Public relations experts need to be extroverts.
11. Tech savvy
Be a little tech savvy. Depend on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter to
spread awareness and promote your organization.

Types of Public Relation Tools
Organizations hire public relations experts to position themselves strongly in the minds of target
audiences, investors, stakeholders, employees and all others associated with it. Public relations
activities are designed specially to create a strong brand image. Public relations experts should
ensure their target audiences agree to what they intend to sell and thus in a way enhance as well as
maintain the reputation of their organization through ethical means.

There are various ways public relations activities take place:
Media Relations
Public relations experts create awareness and market their organization and its products/services
to various media sources which include TV, Radio, internet, newspapers, magazines and so on.
Public relations experts develop and design various interesting and creative stories about their

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organization and products and pitch it to various media people. Organizations bank on their
relations with media channels to enhance the reputation of their brand.
Following are the tools used in media relations:
 Press Kits
Press kits include written material about the organization and its top people.
 Audio Releases
Audio releases or video releases are prerecorded messages distributed to various media
channels.
 Matte Releases
Small local newspapers accept articles written by organizations when they do not have
sufficient articles or stories to publish. Such releases are called as matte releases.
 Website Press Room
Public relations experts promote their organization and its products/services through online
press rooms.
 Media Tour
Public relations experts publicize their organization and its products through media tour
where key people of the organization travel to important places and locations and promote
their products through various interviews to media people. They interact and share the
benefits and USPs of their products/services with people from various news channels, radio
channels and even print media. Organizations also hire celebrities or other people popular
among the masses to promote and publicize their organization.
 Newsletters
Newsletters are nothing but publications which are distributed on a regular basis (monthly,
quarterly) among target audiences. Public relations experts collect complete information
(name, address, age group) of their target customers and distribute newsletters to create
awareness about their products. Newsletters should include information about the
organization, interview from key people, product information, testimonials from clients
and so on.

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 Events/Functions
Public relations experts organize special events, gatherings, parties, to target their
customers and promote their organization and its products among them. People from media
are also invited for coverage.
 Speaking Engagements
One of indirect ways of publicizing an organization and its products is through interacting
with potential customers and target audience. Company officials address the target
audience and do not only discuss about their products and services. They generally prefer
any topic which would interest the target audiences.
 Employee interactions on a regular basis
It is really essential for employers to stay in constant touch with employees and keep them
abreast with the latest developments and happenings within the organization. Management
or public relations experts should circulate latest events, new product launches among
employees through emails, circulars, notices or simply communicating with them.
 Charity/Corporate social responsibility
Public relations experts engage in various social and charitable activities to publicize their
organization and its products. Organizations distribute products among target audiences to
create a goodwill of their organization.

Models of Public Relations
Models of public relations were proposed by James E. Grunig, a noted public relations theorist
who has to his credit several books, articles, chapters and awards in the field of public relations.
According to James E.Grunig, there are four models of public Relations:
 Press Agentry/Publicity
Press Agentry Publicity model is also called P.T Barnum model. Press Agentry Publicity
model follows one way communication where the flow of information is only from the
sender to the receiver. The sender is not much concerned about the second party’s feedback,
reviews and so on.
In Press Agentry publicity model, public relations experts enhance the reputation of the
organization among the target audiences, stakeholders, employees, partners, investors and
all others associated with it through manipulation. According to this model, organizations

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hire public relations experts who create a positive image of their brand in the minds of
target audiences through arguments and reasoning. They influence their potential
customers by simply imposing their ideas, thoughts, creative stories of their brand. Flow
of information takes place only from the public relations experts to the target audiences.
(One way communication)

 Public Information Model
As the names suggests public information model, emphasizes on maintaining and
enhancing the image of an organization simply by circulating relevant and meaningful
information among the target audience/public. Public relations experts depend on press
release, news release, video release or any other recorded communication often directed at
the media to circulate information about their brand among the public. Newsletters,
brochures, magazines with information about the organization, its key people, products,
benefits of the products, testimonials, success stories are distributed at regular intervals
among target audiences for brand positioning.

In such a model, public relations experts need to be creative and ought to have a flair for
writing. They should be really good at putting their thoughts into meaningful words which
influence the customers and end-users. Public information model also revolves around one
way communication where information primarily flows from sender(organization and
public relations experts) to the receiver(target audience, employees, stake holders,
employees, investors and so on).

 Two Way Asymmetrical Model
Two way asymmetrical model of public relations revolves around two way communication
between both the parties but the communication is somewhat not balanced. In this type of
model, public relations experts position their organization and brand on the whole in the
minds of their target audiences through manipulation and force the public to behave the
same way they would want them to do. In two way asymmetrical model of public relations,
organizations do not utilize much of their manpower and resources to find out the reaction
of the stakeholders, investors or for that matter public.

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 Two way Symmetrical Model
Two way symmetrical model of public relations is an ideal way of enhancing an
organization’s reputation among the target audience. According to two way symmetrical
model, public relations experts depend on two way communication to position their brand
among end-users. Free flow of information takes place between the organization and its
stake holders, employees, investors and vice-a-versa. Conflicts and misunderstandings are
resolved through mutual discussions and communication. A two way communication takes
place between both the parties and information flows in its desired form. The feedback
from stakeholders and target audiences are also taken into consideration.

Origin Of Public Relations
Thomas Jefferson (1807) used the phrase "Public relations" in the place of "State of thought" while
writing his seventh address to the US Congress. In India, Great Indian Peninsular Railway
Company Limited (GIP Railways) carried on publicity in Public Relations campaign in England
for promote tourism to India through mass media and pamphlets. During the time of First World
War a central publicity board was set up at Bombay (now Mumbai) for disseminating war news to
the public and press. After Second World War the Public Relations activity gained importance
both privates as well as Government started Public Relations campaigns.

1.3. NEED FOR PUBLIC RELATIONS
Investing on Public relations will help the organisation to achieve its objective effectively and
smoothly. Public Relations is not creating good image for a bad tea mince false image cannot be
sustained for a long time. Though the organisation product or services are good it need an effective
Public Relations campaign for attracting, motivating the public to the product or service or towards
the purpose of the programme. It is not only encourage the involvement from the public and also
resulting in better image. An effective Public Relations can create and build up the image of an
individual or an organisation or a nation. At the time of adverse publicity or when the organisation
is under crisis an effective Public Relations can remove the "misunderstanding" and can create
mutual understanding between the organisation and the public.

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Functions Of Public Relations
 Public Relations is establishing the relationship among the two groups (organisation and
public).
 Art or Science of developing reciprocal understanding and goodwill.
 It analyses the public perception & attitude, identifies the organisation policy with public
interest and then executes the programmes for communication with the public.

Elements Of Public Relations
 A planned effort or management function.
 The relationship between an organization and its publics
 Evaluation of public attitudes and opinions.
 An organization’s policies, procedures and actions as they relate to said organization’s
publics.
 Steps taken to ensure that said policies, procedures and actions are in the public interest
and socially responsible.
 Execution of an action and or communication programme.
 Development of rapport, goodwill, understanding and acceptance as the chief end result
sought by public relations activities.

The Components And Tools Of Public Relations
"Public"
A group of similar individuals; an assortment of persons having the same interests, problems,
circumstances, goals; it is from such persons that opinion emanates. Public is a varied creature; it
comes in many forms and sizes. Public has a multitude of wants and desires; it has its likes and
dislikes, some times, strong likes and strong dislikes. Employers make for a public and employees
another public; the government is a public and citizens constitute another public, and so on, each
of these groups is a public of the sort, tries to attract a different audience with its own tools and
techniques.

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"Relations"
Human wants to create the need to establish relations with one another. The representative wants
of the individuals will profoundly affect their relationship. To understand any relationship,
therefore, one must understand the wants of those involved. 'Relationships are of all possible types.
We have relationship by ran-superior to inferior, inferior to superior, and equal to equal. We have
relationship by sentiment-benevolent, Friendly, suspicious, jealous, hostile. A relationship may be
active, or it may be passive it may be good or it may be bad, or it may be neutral. At any rate, the
relationship is there to be accepted, ignored or altered, as desired.

Propaganda:
Propaganda is the manipulation of symbols to transmit accepted attitudes and skills. It describes
political application of publicity and advertising, also on a large scale, to the end of selling an idea
cause or candidate or all three.

Campaigns
These consist of concerted, single-purpose publicity programme, usually on a more or less
elaborate scale, employing coordinated publicity through a variety of media, aimed, at a number
of targets, but focussed on specific objectives. A campaign objective may be the election of a
candidate, the promotion of political cause or issue, the reaching of a sales goal, or the raising of
a quota of funds.

Lobbying
It entails the exertion of influence, smooth and measured pressure on other, exercise of persuasion
cum-pressure. In essence, it means a group putting its points of view forward in an attempt to win
the other groups support.
Some Possibilities That Would Call For Public Relations
Promotional
Opportunity
To inform the new service / policy which call for Public Relations to make
wider publicity.
Competitive:

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To over come the resistance (pre-set mind condition).
Controversy:
To eliminate the contradictory conditions in between the organisation and the public.
Adverse publicity:
To inform the truth or correct issues and thereby removing the misunderstanding.
Catastrophe:
Announcement of any unfavourable issues.
Crisis:
Whenever threats arises.
Public relations role in government:
The Government public relations contributes to:
1. Implementation of public policy.
2. Assisting the news media in coverage of government activities.
3. Reporting the citizenry on agency activities.
4. Increasing the internal cohesion of the agency.
5. Increasing the agency’s sensitive to its public’s.
6. Mobilization of support for the agency itself.
Public Relations for Government (objectives and organizations)

National Objectives:
The basic function of the government Public Relations department / agencies is to provide
information, education/instruction to the citizens. The effort should also motivate the people
directly or indirectly, to discharge these functions in a meaningful and purposeful manner, it is
necessary that the Public Relations Department / wing should be clear about the broad objectives
which guide their work.

The national objective should be non-political, non-controversial, and on which there should be a
national consensus. The objectives should further the interests and the wellbeing of the public as
a whole and promote the many sided development of the country. The objectives should be long
term ones and need not necessarily change with political vagaries